Couples Share Risk Factors and Behaviors for Cardiovascular Disease
Risk factors for heart health like smoking, unhealthy or bad eating habit, and minimal exercise, may appear personal. Still, for married couples or in the so-called "domestic partnership," an individual's behavior patterns may be strongly associated with the patterns of the other.
A study in which researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital led evaluated cardiovascular risk factors and behaviors of over 5,000 couples who participated in an employee wellness program that Quest Diagnostics offered.
The research team utilized various metrics to categorize people as having either ideal or non-ideal "risk factors and behaviors," concluding that in 79 percent of pairs, both people "fell into a non-ideal classification for cardiovascular health" with the majority of them sharing poor eating habits and not doing adequate exercise or physical activities.
Specifically, the research findings emphasize the potential essentiality of "addressing with healthy behaviors for both people in a relationship." Reports on the study said the results are published recently in JAMA Network Open.
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A research team found that when one of the couples had quit drinking and smoking, engaged in weight loss, and improved his or her diet, the other was more likely to follow.
Shared Risk Factors
"We know a lot about cardiovascular risk factors for individuals but not for couples," said corresponding author Samia Mora, MD, MHS, of the Brigham Divisions of Preventive Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine.
"We expected to see some shared risk factors, but it was a surprise to see that the vast majority of couples were in a non-ideal category for overall cardiovascular health."
Mora and her colleagues inspected the Quest Diagnostics data, which offered its employees a health assessment program to participate voluntarily.
Specifically, the study authors evaluated data from more than 5,000 couples or over 10,000 individuals who took part in the program from October 2014 to August 2015.
From this program, the researchers were able to identify if an individual was in the "ideal, intermediate, or poor category" for every American Heart Association-defined LS7 or Life's Simple 7 risk factor and behavior.
As a result, the team found that when one of the couples had quit smoking, engaged in weight loss, and improved his or her diet, and the other was more likely to follow.
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The LS7
As indicated in the new findings, the LS7 comprise the couples' smoking status, body mass index or BMI, "Physical activity, the score for a healthy diet," total cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and fasting sugar. The data were gathered from questionnaires, laboratory exams, and other examinations.
When investigated individually, more than 50 percent of the volunteers were found to be in the ideal classification for three risk factors and behaviors of the LS7.
These specifically include "never smoked" for the smoking status, <200mg/dL for the total cholesterol, and <100mg/dL for the fasting glucose.
Nonetheless, over 25 percent of the study individuals were found to be in poor classifications for physical activity, BMI, and cardiovascular health score. More so, only 12 percent of the individual participants were found to be in the "ideal category for CV health score."
Finally, according to Mora, the data they gathered propose that factors and behaviors "track together for couples." Instead of thinking about interventions for individuals, the corresponding author added, "It may be helpful to think about interventions for couples or families as a whole."
It is essential for people as well, Mora also said, to think about the manner their health and behaviors may impact those of the people they live with. Meaning, improving one's own health may also help others.
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Oct 27, 2020 12:00 PM EDT
